Compendium Article 4: Roots to Routes - Understanding How Your Requests are Traced and Analyzed

Tracing Your Requests: A Journey Through Ping and Trace Commands

    For many years, network hops and latency have been measured by ping and traceroute. Network engineers and administrators have benefited from using these tools to analyze and track network performance. Information is now more accurate and current thanks to modern tools. Because both experts and everyday users use these tools to identify and resolve network problems, they are crucial to the infrastructure of the modern internet.

What is Ping Routing and Trace Routing?

Ping

    A Ping measures packet round-trip time and IP host reachability. It sends the target host a request and waits for a reply. If the host responds, the round-trip time is determined. You can analyze internet connectivity (Hoffman, 2017).

Traceroute

    Traceroute shows how IP packets travel. A request is also sent from the host. When hosts send the message, IP addresses between the host and destination are recorded. Repeating traceroute can determine the packet's path to the host and hop times. You can see where it’s messing up at (Hoffman, 2017).

    Ping and traceroute errors have many causes which include the site being down, router issues, firewalls, or too many users trying to access the site.

Difference

    Simply put Ping requests can show how long it takes to reach a sites server. Traceroute shows where the hosts request packets must travel through to get to reach the desired sites server.

    We visited various domestic and international websites to test both computer commands. The sheer speed with which information obtained with a single command was transmitted within milliseconds astounded most. The results raise the question of what type of hazard a malicious person could pose by using your IP address to determine your geographical location. Upon observing the varying results of most of my classmates, numerous hypotheses can be assumed. For the activity, I did not use a VPN, and my results were far faster than those of several of my classmates who were believed to have done so. For other websites, such as those in China, it was assumed that they utilized a firewall for US site requests. However, others believed differences were also due to differences in Internet service provider speeds.

    In conclusion, ping and traceroute are vital tools in the arsenal of network administrators and engineers and are essential for ensuring the smooth functioning of modern internet infrastructure. With their ability to measure network latency and identify network hops, these tools have been used for decades to troubleshoot network issues and monitor network performance. Over the years, the technology and capabilities of both tools have improved, providing more accurate and detailed information and real-time updates. Today, these tools are used by both technical and non-technical users to diagnose and fix network problems, making them an essential component of the modern internet. Despite their widespread use, the significance of these tools is often overlooked. However, their ability to provide essential information about connection points within and beyond the network highlights their importance in network support.

Please review the received findings and conduct your own comparisons using the Ping and Trace route commands.

Follow UAGC's Guide to Ping and Trace Route Commands for the device your using:

You can ping a domain name (e.g. google.com) or an IP address (e.g. 206.190.36.45). 

 To ping on a Windows operating system, you: 

1.Right-click the Start menu and click Run. 

2.Type cmd into the textbox and click OK. 

3. In the command prompt, type ping, then a space, and then the specific domain name/IP address. 

4. Press Enter. 

You can also type ping/? into the command prompt to view a list of the various options to use the ping command. 

 To ping on a Linux operating system, you open a terminal window and type ping, then a space, and then the specific domain name/IP address. 

To ping on a Mac operating system, you: 

1.Open the Applications folder and choose Utilities. 

2.Choose Network Utility and then ping. 

3.Type the specific domain name/IP address. 

Or you can: 

1. Open up Terminal. 

2. Type ping, then a space, and then the specific domain name/IP address. 

3. Press Enter. 

You can run a traceroute to a domain name (e.g. google.com) or an IP address (e.g. 206.190.36.45). 

To run a traceroute on a Windows operating system, you: 

1. Right-click the Start menu and click Run. 

2. Type cmd into the textbox and click OK. 

3. In the command prompt, type tracert, then a space, and then the specific domain name/IP 

address. 

4. Press Enter. 

 To run a traceroute on a Linux operating system, you open a terminal window and type traceroute, then a 

space, and then the specific domain name/IP address. 

 To run a traceroute on a Mac operating system, you: 

1. Open the Applications folder and choose Utilities. 

2. Choose Network Utility and then Traceroute. 

3. Type ashford.edu and click Trace. 

Or you can: 

1. Open up Terminal. 

2. Type traceroute, then a space, and then the specific domain name/IP address. 

3. Press Enter.  

 Wait for a few minutes until the traceroute command is complete.  

Google US: Ping and Trace Results       

Weibo.CN (China Site)

tagesanzeiger.Ch (Switzerland Site)

References

Guide to Ping and Traceroute Commands. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from Topic: Week 3 - Discussion Forum 2 (instructure.com)

Hoffman, C. (2017, July 13). 8 common Network Utilities explained. How. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://www.howtogeek.com/190148/8-common-network-utilities-explained/